Board names new schools, tweaks STEM academies

Wednesday

The Reynoldsburg Board of Education decided last week to call the new high school now under construction the Summit Road Campus and to rename the existing high school the Livingston Avenue Campus.

The Reynoldsburg Board of Education decided last week to call the new high school now under construction the Summit Road Campus and to rename the existing high school the Livingston Avenue Campus.

Referring to each school as a "campus" is part of the district's efforts to retain one Reynoldsburg High School identity, even though there will be two separate buildings.

The board also agreed to name the new elementary school under construction next to the second high school Summit Road Elementary.

Both new schools are expected to open next fall.

The change came at the recommendation of Superintendent Steve Dackin, who said naming the two high schools as separate "campuses" fulfills a pledge made to the community during discussions about how to recognize having two high schools.

In other business Tuesday, STEM academy coordinator and high school STEM arts integration teacher Thomie Timmons reported that the number of STEM academies that will be housed on the two campuses has been reduced from five to four.

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

The eSTEM Academy, which follows an environment-based curriculum, was started at RHS this fall for freshmen and sophomores.

The district's original plans also called for the Enterprise Business Academy, with a focus on business; the LEADS Academy, with a focus on leadership, ethics, advocacy, democracy and solutions; the Encore of Reynoldsburg Academy, with a focus on arts, communications and design; and the Health, Science, Human Services and Education Academy.

Timmons said the Enterprise Business Academy and the LEADS Academy will be merged and will be called the Academy of Business, Leadership, and Law. The change was made in order to maximize teacher efficiency, Timmons said.

"If five academies were kept, the student population in each class would be between 80 and 95 students É and the common load for a teacher is 125 students," he said. "So combining them into four academies gives you about 125 per grade level, per academy, which is one teacher. That's better because you're keeping those teachers in that academy and it maximizes the staff."

Timmons said there will be four core teachers for the freshman and sophomore years and four core teachers for the junior year, with the idea that a lot of the junior and senior levels might have dual credits and post-secondary options.

"So the goal is a lot of those students may not even be on campus. They may be getting their education outside of the school day," Timmons said. "How that works out for each academy is depending on how many teachers they need for the junior and senior year."

In addition, he said the Academy of Business, Leadership, and Law and the Health, Science, Human Services and Education Academy have been assigned to the Livingston Avenue campus. The Encore of Reynoldsburg and eSTEM academies are assigned to the Summit campus.

Timmons said academy planning meetings will continue as needed throughout the year. In November, administrative leaders will be chosen and teachers will be assigned to each academy, he said.

Timmons has recommended that current RHS assistant principal Tom Lanier be leader of the Academy of Business, Leadership and Law; and that high school dean Anne Baldwin lead the Health, Science, Human Services and Education Academy.

To lead the Encore of Reynoldsburg Academy, Timmons recommended current high school Spanish teacher Katy Myers, and to lead the eSTEM Academy, he recommended RHS principal Leslie Kelly.

Assistant Superintendent Dan Hoffman said there is still more work to do to complete the design, planning process and rollout of the three STEM academies next year.

"Thomie Timmons, Katy Myers, Anne Baldwin and Tom Lanier have all been very much a part of the planning, as really, have a whole host of high school teachers, and all things are in good order," Hoffman said.

"We still have a lot of complex work to do, particularly as we build schedules, so we're certainly not done, but I see the progress weekly and am very pleased with where we are at," he said.

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